Merrygoround Goes Round Again
by 6GunSally
Summary: Phoenix Wright calls all his friends together to make an announcement. One-shot in honor of GS5/AA5 announcement so I'm a little slow... Here's hoping I get Jossed!


_**Disclaimer: Ace Attorney and all characters are copyright by CAPCOM; I'm just a fan imitating. The stories presented are influenced by the multiple games as well as the comic (Manga written by Kenji Kuroda).**_

_**The story presented takes place some time after GS4/AA4:AJ and prior to the forthcoming GS5/AA5. I don't pretend to know what will happen in the new PW game—but I'm seriously hoping I get Jossed!**_

* * *

**Merry-go-round Goes Round Again**

_Hi, there. My name is Phoenix—Phoenix Wright. And for the first time in seven years—almost eight—I can say that I'm a Defense Attorney. Eight years, you say? I could talk about the last eight years of my life, but that would be a very long story. I passed the Bar and they let me wear my badge again. It looks good on my jacket—I had to get a new one—eight years in storage, not to mention eight years of my life—really wasn't beneficial to the preservation of that old suit. But I digress…_

_ Today I'm going to break the news to all of my friends—some of them already know—but this is going to be the public reveal. If you didn't know, I was a defense attorney before, but I was disbarred. So I went on hiatus—in more ways than one… But, again—that's another story. Not everyone I know has been very easy with my sabbatical—especially **him**._

_ So of course, he knows about this already—it was the only way to get him to stop shouting on the phone at me. But I'm not here to talk about him. Trucy will be up soon, she's visiting on break from University—she's grown up so fast._

_ Trucy doesn't know all the details yet, but she's all ready as excited as I am nervous._

"Daddy?" _I guess she is awake._

"Morning Trucy," _she's pretty—more than ever now—what will I do with her when the suitors come knocking more fervently?_ "Do you want breakfast?"

"You have news, Daddy?" _She looks up at me with those big blue eyes—and I could melt. She's been talking to Apollo._

"I was going to save that for later," _I'm trying my best to keep this to myself, saving it for the big event—but it's so difficult. Especially with Trucy. Trucy and I share some of the darkest kind of secrets—feelings and sorrows that—well, that's also another story._

"I made toast and coffee," _what? She thinks it's good enough—don't judge me._

"Did you get mixed-fruit jelly?" _For you Trucy, anything._

"Here," _It feels normal to sit with her like this, to eat toast with butter and mixed-fruit jelly._

"How's school treating you?" _I worry about her._

"It's okay, Daddy," _I can see she still doesn't agree with my decision to send her, _"I miss performing—I can't do it as often with classes and everything."

_ I must've frowned at her, because she has this guilty look on her face. I couldn't help it. I needed her on stage—just to make ends meet. Wrong or right, that's how we managed to survive._

_ But that's over and done with now. I smile at her and she relaxes and manages to bite off half a slice of toast at once. I watch her chew, this girl—no this young woman… With her cheeks bulged out like that she is my girl, my little Trucy all over again._

_ I leave her to her own devices while I shower and get dressed—this is a big day. A lot of people, people I can call friends, they've been asking a lot of questions. I guess I owe them an explanation—then I can reveal the big news._

_ I'm not going to lie—I had a little help choosing this new suit. I'm not a kid anymore, no longer wide-eyed and innocent—ha! It was **his** idea to ask Adrian. She's doing great—still working at Lordly Tailor—making waves._

_ I like blue, and Adrian thought it suited me. The vest… Well, everyone else is wearing them, right? Nothing says 'I mean business like a three piece suit'. But I'm going to stop at the vest for now—I don't want to make this too obvious. That old sweatshirt will do for now._

_ I'm bringing the jacket in the garment bag for later. I collect Trucy and we head out to the Borscht Bowl Club. After all, I'm still the pianist there._

_ Apollo is already there with Klavier, they're laughing like old friends. That's how it should be—but who am I kidding? These things are always fleeting—sunny days, time with friends, good news… Let's enjoy this while we can._

"Hey kids," _they look at me like I'm some crazy old person—all sympathy and reverence—I don't deserve that… Besides, 34 isn't old. In fact, you could say I've just hit my prime—some people say 30 is the new 20. If only I could be 24 again and keep all the experience I have now…_

_ Apollo looks at me in that cocky way he has when he thinks he's being cool, he even smiles a little,_ "So, Mr. Wright, your last gig, and you can't even show up on time."

_I don't need to respond to that kind of posturing machismo—I'm not a kid anymore—so I nod and smile. Gavin grins at me—or maybe he's grinning at Trucy—but he holds up his guitar; so good of him to help out. Trucy's got her arms around Apollo now; it's comforting to see they get along so well. I know he'll be there for her if I can't be._

_ I look around; no one else is here yet, except for the kids and Olga. She pokes her head out of the kitchen to look at me and then ducks away—she's probably the only one as nervous as I am about this. Funny, I was expecting Ema to be here with the others._

_ I wave the boys up onto the stage with me and I sit down at that poor derelict piano._

"Polly, maybe you can help me out."

"So you'll admit it, then," _he says still with too much bravado,_ "You still never learned to play."

"That's not true," _I tell him,_ "Trucy and I finally figured out how to do chopsticks. We played it here the last time she visited."

_The little twerp rolls his eyes at me. Well, I'll let him have his fun._

_Gavin is surprisingly affable and he's already got his guitar plugged in and dragging the stool over to the piano. I pull out the sheet music and even Apollo looks a little impressed._

"You can be real professional when you put your mind to it,"_ Apollo concedes to me in barely more than a whisper. I'm touched. Then I laugh._

"I have the music,"_ I tell him, _"But I didn't say I learned to play the song."

_Trucy joins us on the bench and I feel really awkward squeezed between the two of them._

"Daddy, really wants to learn that song," _she leans right over me and tells this to Apollo_, "He's been practicing really hard. But he's never been very good at the piano—and he can't read music."

"Can you play a song you've never heard if you have the music?" _I ask him._

_Apollo just shrugs—I can tell he's intrigued,_ "Um, sure. Will I have a chance to run through it before the show?"

"Yeah," _I check my watch_, "You can probably run through it several times."

"Then it's no problem," _Apollo says and then he looks at Klavier, _"You knew about this and you didn't tell me?"

"You did not ask me, ja?"

"How would I have known to ask?"

"Boys," _I have to stop this—this is my party, after all._

_ Apollo looks at the sheet music and makes some quip about the song being incredibly old and where the heck did I dig it up, but he begins to play and I'm impressed. The tempo is off—but who am I to judge? The second go is much better and Klavier joins in on the guitar. Trucy's eyes are glittering; she's eating this up. All I can do is smile._

_ Even Olga comes out to watch us. She makes some crack about me only doing the one song and then asks me if I'm going to play one last time downstairs._

"I've already played my last poker game," _I tell her._

"But you've never sung here before and you have to sing now?" _she says._

_Apollo gapes at me,_ "You're going to sing?"

"It's not a hard song," _I say, and I'm going to leave it at that. Apollo makes a crack about my voice and Trucy gets defensive—suddenly she's got a lot of memories of me singing lullabies and serenading my showerhead. And I'm trapped in between the two of them._

_ She walks in and saves me. There's a little bell on the door that dings when a customer enters and all of us looked up when she came in. I have to take a breath and close my eyes—it's been far too long. I'm not going to cry tonight—I promise I wont. But seeing Maya after almost eight years is already bringing that sting to my nose and a lump in my throat. I might not be able to sing after all._

"Daddy, who's that?"

"Nick?" _Her voice is more somber than I remember but there's no question it's her._

_ Finally, Apollo is kind enough to stand and let me off of the bench. I can't bother with the stairs and jump straight off the stage to get to her and hug her. She doesn't hug me back at first, when she does she bursts into tears._

_I close my eyes and hold her like that—this feels good. Feels right._

_ The bell dings again,_ "Mystic Maya?"

_We both drop our embrace to look at the young woman at the door; I don't recognize Pearls at all. Pearls is looking all goo-goo eyed at us, though—that's nothing new._

"Oh Mystic Maya! Mister Nick! After all these years your love is still so strong!"

"Daddy?" Trucy's voice sounds tiny and lost coming from the stage, I don't have to look to know she's stood up from the piano. The looks on Maya and Pearls' faces are enough to tell me that I've got some 'splainin' to do.

"Nick," _Maya says slowly,_ "Um, did she call you daddy?"

_The look on Maya's face kills me and I can't speak at first. Her eyelashes are still wet with tears. Pearls is looking daggers at me. I clear my throat._

"Trucy," _I say,_ "Come here. Maya—"

"Mystic Maya," _Pearls corrects me._

"Mystic—"

"What's going on Nick? Is this why you called us here?"

"Well, actually," _If I can get a word in—!_

_The bell dings again, it's Ema and she's brought Lana with her—has it been so long? Lana looks great—like she's at peace with herself. Olga comes out of the back and tells everyone to find a seat. Trucy is standing beside me now._

"Everybody," _I manage to say, and I hope it breaks the palpable tension in the place,_ "This is Trucy—Trucy Wright. She's my daughter."

"Daddy took me in when my father was murdered," _Trucy says—somehow she knew what to say._

_Pearls is making goo-goo eyes at me again. Maya hugs me once around the neck and then she and Pearls go to find a seat. I want to join them and catch up, but time is getting short now. The bell dings again, Adrian gives me a small wave—she's leading Penny Nichols and Franziska von Karma. Von Karma?_

_ I move away from the growing crowd—I don't want to lose my nerve and not be able to do this—I have to do this. I get back on stage and join Apollo on the bench for a moment. He says something to me about being in court for the first time. I can only shrug him off and join Klavier in setting up the mike. Klavier is very good at this stuff._

_ The bell on the door keeps ringing and I try not to look as one memory after another steps through the door—Max Galactica and Regina Berry, the rest of the Gavinners, Maggey Byrd, Dick Gumshoe—the place was filling up quickly. Olga popped out and gave me dirty looks from under her fur hat._

_ I didn't see **him** in the crowd though, and it was almost time. Apollo began to play the song on the piano—something to distract the growing crowd. I closed my eyes and mouthed the words under my breath._

_ It was easier this way. Ever since I lost my badge someone in this group has come up to ask me why. Then it was, what now? Then you should do this or you should do that. He—you get that I'm talking about a certain dude that wears pink? Right? Okay—just making sure._

_ Anyway… He was pissed at me—but then I wonder if he blamed himself a little too—he's a little weird like that. I think he understood. At least I didn't choose death—just a couple months' hiatus—well just over seven years. It's making it worse that he hasn't shown up, this is as much his news as it is mine. I can feel butterflies in my stomach as I'm waiting. I notice that Mr. Eldoon is serving soup out in the crowd—apparently Olga doesn't have enough Borscht for everybody._

_ I've lost my appetite right now—how can he leave me hanging?_

_ Just a few more minutes. Klavier is making everyone smile with plain guitar versions of a couple of Gavinners' songs. I catch myself pacing at the back of the stage. Let's just do this._

"Afternoon, everyone," _the mike makes me sound ridiculous—but these are my friends, right? They don't seem to mind. Where the heck is he?_

"It's been a long time," _I've got this._

"The reason I've called everyone together today, is to relay some important news… Um, I wasn't going to do this by myself, actually, but someone decided not to show up—this news kind of concerns the both of us so…"

"Daddy, you're rambling…"

"Oh," _I clear my throat_, "Fine… A lot of you have been asking what I've done with the last seven years of my life… I don't need to get into the details. I could've written an apology, or a speech, but that isn't really my forte. So I thought I—"

"Daddy…"

_I give Apollo a little nod and he starts on the piano—he catches it when I miss the cue and improves a little and then he nods for me to start. I close my eyes and grip the mike stand._

"People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing," _Once I start it isn't hard_, "Well they give me all kinds of warnings," _I open my eyes and look out at my friends,_ "to save me from ruin."

_Klavier starts in with his accompaniment and I smile because this is so apt, "_When I say that I'm okay, they look at me kind of strange_—s_urely you're not happy now youno longer play the game…?"

_Maya is smiling at me and she leans toward Pearls. I still wish I wasn't up here alone._

"People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away, " _I have to smile again,_ "Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me…"

_The bell dings and I see that stupid white-banded fedora and that black raincoat, the briefcase he carries is familiar to everyone I though. Ribbed steel—a little dented and travel worn—just like it's owner. I almost miss my cue._

"When I tell them that I'm doing fine, watching shadows on the wall. Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?"

He smiles a little in his own way as he hangs up his hat—his glasses are thick and black—not the same horned-rimmed glasses his father wore—some Ray-Ban designer frame instead—but you get the idea.

"I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round; I really love to watch them roll. No longer riding on the merry-go-round. I just had to let it go."

_He hangs up his raincoat revealing a suit in charcoal gray—I told him I wasn't going to share an office with pink. He argued about Pink versus Magenta—but Adrian got him to give in._

"People asking questions lost in confusion," _this is my favorite line and I grin_, "

Well I tell them there's no problem—only solutions."

_Miles looks at me with his smirk firmly in place. His bowtie is pink. To each his own, I guess._

"Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind,

I tell them there's no hurry... I'm just sitting here doing time."

_He shakes his head._

"I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,

I really love to watch them roll. No longer riding on the merry-go-round—I just had to let it go**."**

_Miles Edgeworth moves away from the back wall and shakes a few hands in the crowd as he comes to join me on stage._

"I just had to let it go!"

_Once on stage he kind of has to wrestle the mike away—maybe I missed my calling?_

"I JUST HAD TOOOOOOOO!"

"Wright, we get it—stop with the theatrics."

"I just had toooooo… Let it GOOOO whoah whoah!"

_Once he had the mike he looked a little nervous staring at that crowd. I took off my sweatshirt and Trucy brought me my jacket. He put an arm over my shoulders. _

"Sorry I'm late," _Edgeworth says but he's holding the mike and everyone hears it._

"Way to leave a brother hanging, there," _I say—laughter in the crowd._

"Well_," when he says 'well' like that, it's a dismissal_, "Thank everyone for coming. I'm sure you've heard that Mister Phoenix Wright Esquire—that's right, he's been re-instated—and myself have entered into a partnership—"

"Edgey-poo! You're…? That explains why he never returned my calls…"

"You too?"

"What's wrong with the world?"

_Edgeworth looks confused at all the disappointed females in the crowd. I manage to get the mike back and save the day_.

"A law partnership," _I say, and I move far enough away from my friend to reveal the Attorney badge pinned to his lapel. Also, standing like that was giving the wrong impression..._

_After an incongruous amount of relieved sighs I can finish my announcement—but not before I point out that I've never met anyone nerdier than Miles Edgeworth—so why? Why?_

_Anyway…_

"We're pleased to announce that starting Monday, the Wright and Edgeworth Law Offices will be taking clients. Wrightworth… I like that, Wrightworth Law Offices—"

"Wright and Edgeworth Law Offices."

"How about WrightEdge? That's catchy don't you think? Or EdgeWright?"

_He grimaced and left the stage. This is the start of a new era, I say._

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_**A/N: Thanks for Reading! Reviews would be greatly appreciated!**_

_**The song "Watching the Wheels" is written by John Lennon, of course. This little story was inspired by the cover by David Usher. So check it out! (OMG by the end of this I had more than 20 versions of that song)**_

_I'll probably cry if Edgeworth isn't in AA5—but I'll probably play the heck out of it anyway!_

_I hope the Phoenix Wright stream of consciousness wasn't too difficult to follow… _


End file.
